Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $1,016.39 and last traded at $1,016.08, with a volume of 301432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,000.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQIX has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC set a $1,050.00 target price on shares of Equinix and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,016.86.

Equinix Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $99.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $931.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $836.36.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.07 by ($0.16). Equinix had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a $5.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is presently 150.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 1,086 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $966.20, for a total value of $1,049,293.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 19,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,912,398.80. The trade was a 5.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jonathan Lin sold 635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $965.71, for a total transaction of $613,225.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,788 shares in the company, valued at $10,418,079.48. This represents a 5.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 16,842 shares of company stock worth $14,494,840 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinix

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQIX. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter valued at $984,355,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Equinix by 408.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,186,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $929,312,000 after buying an additional 953,001 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Equinix by 377,167.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 716,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $549,190,000 after buying an additional 716,618 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Equinix by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,875,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,252,094,000 after buying an additional 588,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in Equinix by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,609,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,998,978,000 after buying an additional 493,141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

About Equinix

Equinix, Inc is a global provider of digital infrastructure and interconnection services, specializing in carrier-neutral data centers and colocation. The company operates a platform that enables enterprises, cloud and network service providers, and content companies to colocate IT infrastructure, interconnect directly with partners and providers, and access cloud on-ramps and network services in a secure, low-latency environment.

Equinix’s offerings include traditional colocation space and power, cross-connects and meet-me rooms, and a suite of connectivity and on-demand services designed for hybrid multicloud architectures.